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Warning to all: this is NOT a slash. None of my stories are. Thank you.
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Duo tried to avoid the hard blow that Heero had aimed at his gut but wound up
getting a fist to the left side of his face instead. The young pilot let out a
grunt as he fell back.
“But...Quatre needs me,” he murmured. “Your knock-out trick won’t work this
time, buddy...”
Gently pressing his hand to his swelling face, Duo rushed out of the room and
into the dimly lit hall.
Heero swore under his breath as he watched him go. He knew that Duo would get
in the way if they tried to warn Quatre that Dorothy was headed his way. Their
psychotic schoolmate was sure to hear Dou’s clumsy steps as he charged after
her. This was going to ruin everything.
***
Panting, Duo reached the room that Quatre was in. Unfortunately, so had
Dorothy. Just as Duo pushed the door open, he saw Dorothy about to deal a
horrible blow to a cornered, unarmed Quatre.
“Dorothy, you baka!” he spat at her. “What do you think you’re doing?!”
Dorothy didn’t respond. She glanced at him and then ignored him from there.
She had other matters to attend.
When he realized that Dorothy wasn’t listening to him, Duo decided that is
was time for drastic actions.
As Dorothy’s blade plunged toward Quatre’s stomach, something dark blocked
the way. Upon hearing a familiar voice cry out, Dorothy and Quatre realized at
the same time just what had happened.
Duo lay on the floor, his head leaning against a piece of furniture. He was
panting and holding his side. His eyes were shut tight as he tried to breathe.
“You fool!” Dorothy all but screamed angrily. “You got in the way! Suffer
your stupidity!”
Still enraged, Dorothy jabbed the blade into Duo’s right side. Duo let out
another holler, louder this time. Dorothy stepped back to admire her handiwork.
She stood there smirking, her pale face eerily lit by the dim lights in the
room.
“Noble moron,” she hissed. “If you choose the life of a warrior of good, you
should die like one.”
Quatre had knelt beside his dying friend, tears welling up in his eyes as he
choked back a startled sob.
“Duo...” he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper as he took a hold of
his friend’s hand and squeezed it softly. He looked up again when he noticed
that the injured one was trying to speak.
“You taught me...” Duo began, his voice low and raspy, “that there’s nothing
more...precious than...life in this...universe. Especially yours, Quatre...”
“Say good-bye to Shinigami,” Dorothy mocked, preparing to finish with Duo
what she had accidentally started. She stopped, however, when Heero, Trowa, and
Wufei entered the room.
Duo blinked and shook his head slightly. The room was reeling, and Quatre’s
face had become blurred. He felt an ominous darkness creeping over his mind,
gripping him and calling him to surrender to it.
“Good-bye, Master Quatre...” he whispered. Then the wounded warrior because
silent.
***
Quatre sat alone with his thoughts, save for the unconscious Duo in the bed
nearby. Although he appeared to be staring into the air in front of him, his
large blue eyes were focused on his still sleeping friend.
Duo was lying in a hospital bed with a respirator attached to his face. It
was so strange to see him like this: so helpless and pathetic-looking, so pale
and sickly. Dorothy had stabbed him deep enough in the first place, but her
sword had cost him a great deal of blood as well. He had needed only one blood
donation, fortunately, but there were numerous stitches in both of his sides.
Quatre snapped back into reality when he saw Duo stirring. Listening closer,
Quatre discovered that his friend was speaking.
“Sister Helen!” he murmured. Who could he have been speaking to? Duo had been
an only child, hadn’t he?
At last, Duo opened his eyes and searched the room until he found Quatre.
“Quatre...” he tried to say, his voice muffled by the mask of the respirator.
He tried to force a smile as well, but the respirator prevented it. Wordlessly,
he managed to remove the respirator mask from his face and let it drop to the
floor, cringing as he did so. His sides were sore and very tender. He leaned his
head back on the pillow, panting. He hadn’t needed the respirator after waking
up, and he had known it.
Quatre sat looking at him, his eyes watering as pity swept his heart. He felt
responsible and guilty for what had become of his friend.
“It’s my fault entirely,” he sighed, his blue eyes downcast. “If it wasn’t
for me, Dorothy never would have accidentally stabbed you. I’m sorry.”
“Watch it,” Duo replied, his eyes shining with mischief, his grimace becoming
a grin. “You might end up blaming yourself for there being no air in space
someday.”
Quatre sighed and looked back up at his friend. Duo was grinning still, but
his expression changed once again. His countenance was now one of pain. He
leaned forward, his body quivering slightly with the pain.
Remembering his ability, Quatre placed a slender hand over his own heart and
reached out to touch Duo’s.
“No, Quatre...don’t,” Duo begged, managing to push the hand away. His eyes
were so pleading as he looked into his friend’s eyes that Quatre could not help
but comply.
The two of them heard footsteps approaching as Heero, Trowa, and Wufei
entered the room. Duo sat up to greet them, but Heero rebuked him wordlessly by
shaking his head.
“Don’t get up,” Trowa insisted. “You’re not exactly our host.”
Duo grinned again, leaning back against his slightly raised bed.
“Nice of you guys to pop in,” he greeted, his voice still low and tired. He
would have said more, but he was still too exhausted. He never would have
thought that bleeding could be so tiresome. He looked around the silent room and
noticed that Wufei was glaring at him, as usual.
“What’s the matter with you, Wu-man? You’re not the one stitched up like a
rag-doll.” Duo voice gave out towards the end of his statement, thus his
wise-crack was close to lost.
“How can one be so weak as to weep from pain, Maxwell,” Wufei demanded. It
was not a question.
Duo looked him straight in the eye now, a solemn look on his face. Had he
been crying after Dorothy stabbed him? Apparently so. The room fell dead silent
because this was an expression rarely seen on the countenance of Duo Maxwell.
“Who’s to say I was crying in pain?” he asked, his tone flat and emotionless.
“The tears in my eyes were for joy. I was sure that I could die happy because I
had saved Quatre’s life. What’s a little pain when you’ve spared a life?”
Wufei was silent.
“A little pain?” Trowa echoed. “I daresay, not too many of us have had
injuries that bad for that reason.”
“I agree,” Heero added, speaking for the first time. “That was a noble move
on your part, Duo Maxwell. I may or may not regret saying this later, but I’m
proud of you.” Heero saluted the injured pilot. Duo, feebly and painfully
raising his hand, returned it. Heero nodded again and left the room, trailed by
Wufei and Trowa.
“Hilde will be coming in a while,” Trowa called over his shoulder as he
stepped back through the doorway.
Duo smiled and gently touched his aching side. Quatre remained where he sat,
still looking with eyes of remorse at his friend. How he wished that it was him
in the hospital bed with the IV rather than Duo! But he could do nothing about
that, now. He was determined to make it up to Duo, somehow.
***
Quatre stayed in the room by Duo’s side. They chatted a bit, but for the most
part Duo lay back against the pillow, breathing heavily. He was tired, but he
somehow found that sleep was impossible. He couldn’t get himself into a
comfortable position, and the pain was too much for him to really relax.
Finally Hilde came in. She wasn’t smiling warmly, but she wasn’t frowning,
either. Her feelings seemed to be neutral at the moment, but they soon changed.
She smiled when she got a good look at Duo, but not because she was completely
pleased. He was weaker and seemed more fragile than she had first imagined. Her
smile was to hide what she really felt.
Duo, however, beamed when he saw her. He was happy to have the company,
especially hers.
“How are you feeling?” she asked quietly, pulling up a chair by the bed.
He just kept grinning. He obviously wasn’t going to tell her. He was feeling
horrible, but he refused to fib and didn’t want to make her more upset than she
already was. She found him out, however, when he tried to move closer to her and
upset his injuries. He held his sides and gritted his teeth. He refused to make
any sounds indicating pain in her presence. He didn’t want to see her cry.
After taking a long, hesitant look at Duo, Quatre scurried out of the room.
Duo, still grimacing, watched him go. Was he going to leave the hospital now?
Duo hoped not. He had been enjoying the company, even if he was unnaturally too
tired to speak much.
Quatre returned moments later, however, trailed by a young male nurse. Duo
was puzzled at first but soon figured it out. Quatre had gone to fetch someone
with pain-killers.
“So, you’re gonna make me cheat, are ya?” Duo asked Quatre, a light-hearted
smirk splitting his face.
Quatre smiled half-heartedly. He didn’t consider this cheating. His friend
was in pain, and he couldn’t stand to see that any longer. It was the least he
could do for the one who had saved his life.
The nurse gave Duo the injection and turned to leave. Just before going out
the door, he turned and said, “When he falls asleep, visiting time is over.”
Hilde and Quatre both nodded, although Quatre had intentions of spending the
night at the hospital, even if it meant sleeping coverless on the floor. He was
determined to stay by his friend’s side all the way.
“Hilde?” Duo beckoned. “Would you do me a favor?”
She nodded without knowing what it was.
Duo tenderly moved his arms up to move his long, unruly hair out from under
his head. “Would you braid this for me, please? It’s kinda in the way...”
“Sure,” she agreed. Duo turned his head towards Quatre so that she could
easily get to all of his thick hair. Almost immediately, she started separating
it into three clumps.
Duo was looking at Quatre, but his head felt heavy, as did his eyelids.
“Quatre...” he mumbled dizzily, “what did you have ‘em give me?”
“The pain-killer has a sedative in it, too,” the blonde boy admitted. “I
could tell that you were having trouble sleeping.”
“You’re good...” Duo started to mumble, but his voice trailed off as he fell
asleep.
Hilde glanced at Quatre and then put the band around the end of Duo’s new
braid. She stood up soundlessly and looked at the sleeping warrior. She bent and
kissed his forehead and then left the room silently, but not without bidding
farewell to Quatre.
Quatre sighed. He didn’t want to go anywhere in case Duo happened to wake up
because he had only nodded off. But he had to do something...
In the end, Quatre stood up and went to go find a nurse. He needed to know if
Duo’s respirator was necessary again and if he could get a cot brought into the
room.
***
As it turned out, Quatre found a different nurse who seemed far more amiable
and helpful than the last one. This nurse not only had a cot but also a pillow
and blankets brought into the room. He also informed Quatre that Duo might not
need the respirator again, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Quatre settled comfortably into the blankets on the cot after turning off the
light. He lay there looking at Duo’s peaceful face until he fell asleep to the
sound of the respirator.
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